Protest against denigration of Hindu deities on clothes and shoes by designer Isabel

Phalgun Shuklapaksha 13, Kaliyug Varsha 5115

Namaskar, dear supporter of Hinduism,

Fashion designer Isabel Simpson-Kirsch of Nashville, Tennessee, who titled her senior thesis BASED, has used sacred and revered Hindu Gods and Goddesses in her designer work.  In this work Hindu Deities are used and face is denigrated by replacing with Lil B. This denigration is seen on fishnet suede skirt, a tie-dye velvet bomber jacket and custom Timberland boots.

Attempts have been made by several Hindus to educate Isabel to stop the use of any Divine images or symbols of Hinduism on clothing  for any purpose and completely remove the denigrating collection but there is no response from the designer.

Humanizing Hindu Deities in this manner is against our Hindu Dharma. People using them will not benefit and it will disturb the communal harmony.  All Hindus should make efforts to educate the mankind when these things are noticed. This is nothing but the denigration of our Dharma. It is duty of all Hindus worldwide to protest lawfully against the designer  Isabel Simpson-Kirsch to immediately stop this denigration and render unconditional apology to all Hindus for hurting their religious sentiments.

Email correspondence of Dharmabhimani with designer Isabel:

On Sat, Feb 14, 2014 , Shilpa wrote:

Dear Isabel,

I came across an article on your clothing collection inspired by Lil B, and was horrified to see the use of sacred and revered Hindu Gods and Goddesses. You have used the Hindu Gods’ body and replaced the face with the face of Lil B. You have also used the Hindu Gods on the shoes. I am deeply hurt by your collection using Hindu Gods for commercial purpose. It is sheer denigration which has hurt not only mine; but millions of Hindus’ religious sentiments. I am sure you would not use the Gods of other religions like Islam, Christianity, etc. for your collection!

http://www.thefader.com/2013/05/23/lil-b-inspires-senior-fashion-thesis-collection/

I would like to bring to your attention that as per Hinduism, Deities too have a unique place where they are kept to maintain sanctity and that place is the altar at home or in a temple so they can be worshipped on daily basis. There is a principle in spirituality which states that the ‘word, touch, form, taste, odor and the energy of an object co-exist’. Wherever there is an idol or picture (form) of a Deity, that particular Deity’s energy is subtly present which can be experienced by anyone when worshipped with true devotion, faith and spiritual emotion. In short whenever we use any Deity pictures on clothing, shoes, products we are essentially insulting them by reducing them to mere objects.

Abusing pictures of Hindu deities by printing them on clothes, shoes alongside the face of Lil B is sheer denigration and it is not only a sin, but trivialization of Hindu Gods and Goddesses that are worshipped by millions of Hindus all over the world. According to the Law of Karma, any such act of denigration accumulates as a sin, and one has to undergo its equivalent unhappiness.

Hence, I  request you to immediately stop the use of any Divine images or symbols of Hinduism on clothing  for any purpose, completely remove the denigrating collection from sale on your site and other outlets  and apologize to the Hindu community at the earliest.

I will be informing Forum for Hindu Awakening about this denigration for further actions.

– Shilpa

Why is this a denigration?

Since time immemorial Hindu Deities and Goddesses have been worshipped with much reverence. Every ritual (e.g. Aarti), every festival (e.g. Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Dassera), every act in Hindusim starts with divine invocation of a sacred Hindu deity.

To trivialize divinity with items such as clothes and shoes, is not only being insensitive but extremely hurtful to billions of followers of Hinduism who worship Hindu deities.

We request you all to email designer Isabel to register your protest and request her to remove these denigrating designs from her collection.

Source : forum for hindu awakening